(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a granulation process of soft-shelled turtle eggs, and more particularly, to one that separates the hard eggshell and the soft egg yolk and egg white to be ground separately and then mix for further grinding and consistently mixed to achieve the fine granules of final product for better meeting the mouth and absorption of nutrients by human intestines.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Eggs of soft-shelled turtle are believed to contain abundant nutrients. The shell, meat, and even eggs of the soft-shelled turtle have been already completely exploited in the orient. Whether they are cooked alone or added into oriental recipes, soft-shell turtle eggs help maintain one's good health.
Either consumed raw, or soaked into liquor for a certain period of time before being consumed, eggs of soft-shelled turtle can be processed into granules similar to power to facilitate oral taking. Soft-shelled turtle eggs in granules may be added with other natural food to reduce its offensive smell to be more acceptable by both of the adults and kids. Nonetheless, the soft-shelled turtle eggs are best consumed in the form of granules for the human intestines to fully absorb nutrients in the eggs.
In the prior art, eggs of soft-shelled turtle are rinsed, frozen and dehydrated to solidify egg white and yolk before being put into high-speed grinder by rotation. However, harder shells are also ground together with the softer egg white and yolk at the same time. Even having been solidified, egg white and yolk return to their liquid state when heated up by the thermal energy produced in the process of grinding at high speed. Accordingly, as the grinding process continues, shells are mixed with egg white and yolk to prevent shells from being ground into fine granules. It can be easily understood that either the hard shells or the softer egg white and yolk can not be consistently ground into the grain size as desired when both are mixed together for grinding. Therefore, residual larger granules from the shells are found in the final product making it awkward in meeting the mouth while preventing it from being well absorbed by human body.
Egg yolk of the soft-shelled turtle like that found with the ordinary eggs of chicken or duck contains certain fat, which serves as a natural lubricant. When shells of the soft-shelled turtle are crushed in the grinding process, the fat is released and gets accumulated to further prevent them from being ground to the grain size as desired and the soft nature of egg white and yolk further make the grinding process more difficult. Even the repeated grinding process fails to overcome the problem that certain parts of the shells are so stubborn to be ground into the grain size as desired.
To maintain the abundant nutrients contained in the eggs of the soft-shelled turtle and to solve the problem encountered in the grinding process, traders in the industry have been trying very hard to find a solution for consistently grinding both of the harder shells and the softer egg white and yolk into final product in grain size as desired.